6 Unconventional Hair Growth Treatments That Actually Work!

Hello Lovelies!

As you know, I’m not one for hair growth elixirs and tricks. One, because most of these “hair growth hacks” are absolute crap, and two, because I focus on teaching women how to develop the healthy hair care practices that will naturally lead to longer hair. However, I’d like to take a bit of a departure from my original stance. I’ve read your messages, I’ve heard your cries for help, and I understand—growing long hair is a time consuming, often frustrating process. Not seeing obvious signs of hair growth can be discouraging and may cause many women to believe that long, healthy hair is not within their reach.

Well what if you could turn the waiting game around to your advantage and speed up the hair growth process? What if there were science-backed hair treatments that were proven to speed up the hair growth cycle and help you reach your long hair goals faster? Well, here are 6 unconventional hair growth treatments that have been proven to stimulate hair growth and speed up the hair growing process! From carrot juice to rotten eggs, hair growth aids and elixirs are as old as time, but unlike most other hair growth aids that claim to accelerate hair growth, I was shocked to find that the six hair growth aids below are backed by scientific research and evidence.

Hot Peppers

If the idea of eating tons of hot peppers to accelerate hair growth makes you shudder, not to worry. You don’t actually have to eat hot peppers to experience their hair growing benefits, *Whew, sigh of relief* you just have to get your hands on of the substances found in these spicy pods, which gives them their pungent smell and spicy flavor. Capsaicin, a common component found in hot peppers, has been found to increase blood flow and activity in the hair follicles. A 2007 study [1] found that administering 6 mg of capsaicin orally each day for 5 months to people with alopecia, a rare condition that causes the body to destroy the hair follicles, promoted hair growth by stimulating the production of Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), a growth factor that plays a significant role in the hair growth process. Nearly 12 percent of the participants experienced increased hair growth over 5 months.

But wait, there’s more!

A second group of alopecia sufferers were administered 6 mg of capsaicin orally each day and 75 mg of isoflavone orally each day, and nearly 65% of the participants in this group experienced increased hair growth over 5 months! Now that’s a huge jump! So a combined intake of capsaicin and isoflavone has been proven to increase hair growth at a significantly higher rate than the intake of capsaicin alone.

Vaginal Cream

Okay, I know this one sound FAR out there, but here me out, it may actually work. miconazole nitrate, the active ingredient in most vaginal creams, is an antifungal agent that’s similar in chemical structure to another antifungal, ketoconazole. Ketoconazole is also an “anti-androgen,” meaning it blocks dihydrotestosterone, the hormone that’s responsible for hair loss in women and men. So given the chemical similarities, it sort of makes sense that miconazole would block hair loss in the same manner as ketoconazole. Now while there aren’t exactly clinically studies proving that miconazole prevents hair loss and stimulates hair growth, there are women out there who swear by this hair growth treatment, and they have all sorts of anecdotal evidence to support this claim. Feel free to use this “hair growth aid”, but I’d like to note that tea tree oil serves the same purpose.

Onion Juice

The proven results of this hair growth treatment are so remarkable you may want to cry. A 2002 study [3] showed that the juice of a crushed or blended onion rubbed on the scalp of alopecia areata sufferers stimulated hair growth. When applied to the scalp twice daily for four weeks, 74% of participants experienced new hair growth. Within six weeks, the number of participants who experienced new hair growth rose to 87%! The reason why? Well there are a few reasons. One, onion juice is a natural antibacterial, so the juice of an onion can create the ideal environment on the scalp for hair to grow in healthy from the follicles and thrive. Two, onion juice contains a high concentration of sulfur, which is another natural hair growth stimulant itself that I’ll discuss below.

Garlic Extract

Of all the unconventional hair growth treatments, this one may be the smelliest, but it packs a potent hair growing punch! Similar to onion juice, garlic juice or extract has antibacterial properties that create the optimal environment for the scalp to produce strong, healthy hair. Garlic also has a ton of other hair growth boosting properties including, sulfur, copper, manganese, calcium, selenium, and the list goes on. Garlic is also a rubefacient, which is a fancy name for a blood circulation stimulant, and since blood carries oxygen and nutrients, increasing blood flow to the scalp is always good in terms of hair growth. Several studies have shown that when applied to the scalp, garlic gel accelerates hair growth in people who suffer from alopecia areata. A 2007 study published in the Indian Journal of Dermatology [4] showed that garlic gel applied twice daily to the scalp in combination with a steroid-based hair growth cream caused the hair to grow faster than people who used the steroid-based hair growth cream alone.

Sulfur

Behind Calcium and Phosphorus, Sulfur is the 3^rd most abundant mineral naturally found in the body, and Sulfur plays a surprising role in the hair growth cycle. Sulfur is actually one of the key building blocks of keratin, the protein that gives hair its structure, strength, and elasticity, and a specific keratin gene with an ultra-high sulfur content is only expressed during the active stage of the hair growth cycle. Several scientific studies have proven that sulfur increases hair growth by actually lengthening the anagen phase or active phase of the hair growth cycle. If you want to accelerate hair growth, lengthening the anagen phase is the number one way to do it! Even better, if you suffer from dandruff, scalp psoriasis, folliculitis, or eczema, Sulfur has also been proven to safely and naturally treat these scalp disorders.

Steam

A scientific study from 1934 [5], yes 1934, showed that steaming the hair increases elasticity in the individual hair strand, which gives the hair the type of “snapback” strength it needs to ward off damage and retain length. When you steam the hair, warm, moist heat gently opens the pores on the scalp and hair follicles, allowing them to absorb and retain more moisture. Steam therapy also removes buildup and clears toxins from the scalp that could be slowing hair growth. If you have low porosity hair, steam treatments will provide your hair with the much needed moisture and flexibility your hair needs to remain supple and grow long. However, there is one catch. Steam treatments shouldn’t extend beyond 30 minutes because steaming the hair beyond this point could permanently alter the cortex of your hair, causing it to lose its elasticity.

References:

[1] Growth Hormone & IGF Research, Vol. 17 (2007), pg. 408 – 415

[2] Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, pg. 9-15, 2006

[3] Journal of Dermatology, Vol. 6 (2002), pg 343-346

[4] Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology, pg. 29-32, 2007

[5] Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers
of a Mathematical or Physical Character, Vol. 232 (1934), pg. 333-394

Can You Grow Long Hair Without Protective Styling?

By Renee Price

Can you grow long hair without protective hairstyles?

Hello Lovelies!

Ariella K. has a great question about protective styles. Ariella wants to know:

Love your website. I’m a bit resistent about this protective styling thing. I mean I know it makes sense, but I just don’t know about wearing buns and other styles like it all the time. I’m just so used to wearing my hair down everyday, and I’d much more prefer it. So is it possible to grow my hair long and not get split ends without wearing protective hairstyles?

Hello, Ariella! Thank you so much for your question. For those of you who don’t know, protective hairstyles are hairstyles that allow you to protect the ends of your hair and go without re-styling your hair for days at a time. Protective hairstyles are conducive to growing long hair because your hair is retains moisture better, it’s free from damaging hair care practices, and the most vulnerable parts of your hair, the ends, have the utmost protection. While protective hairstyles are the best styling option for ladies who want to grow out their hair, they aren’t the only styling option that will allow you to reach your long hair goals.

If protective hairstyles aren’t your thing, low manipulation hairstyles are an alternative styling option. Unlike protective hairstyles, low manipulation hairstyles, don’t involve tucking away the ends of the hair. Low manipulation hairstyles also don’t last as long as protective hairstyles without the need to re-style or tidy up the hair to make it look presentable. However, low manipulation hairstyles are simple enough where manipulation to your hair is kept to a minimum and will not cause unnecessary damage to your hair.

So to answer your question, you absolutely can grow your hair long without protective hairstyles. I just recommend them because they’re a foolproof way to get guaranteed longer hair. If your hair is up, protected, and has virtually no chances of sustaining damage, the only thing it can do is grow. Depending on your hair type, you may be able to get away with not wearing any protective hairstyles at all and still reach your long hair goals. Straighter hair types may have no problem retaining length without protective hairstyles because straighter hair strands tend to have a stronger cuticle layer and retain moisture better. Curlier and highly textured hair types may have more difficulty retaining length without the aid of protective hairstyles because curlier hair tends to be drier and more prone to breakage when it’s worn in it’s natural, unaltered state. Protective hairstyles help preserve the delicate hair strands of curlier hair types and place less friction on curly and highly textured hair strands.

You never stated your hair type Ariella, so I don’t know for sure, but if you have curlier hair, then I would absolutely suggest that you give protective hairstyles a try. Otherwise, if you have a straighter hair type, experiment with low manipulation hairstyles for a few months and see if they aid or hinder your long hair goals and adjust your hair care regimen accordingly. Good luck on your long hair journey!

Low Manipulation – The Key to Growing and Retaining Longer Hair Than Ever Before!

By Renee Price

Low manipulation leads to longer hair

Hello Lovelies!

Our hair is very delicate. That statement sounds so simple, but it’s very true, and it’s something that has taken me a long time to learn and accept. How many of us have yanked and snatched through our hair to quickly complete a style? How many of us blow dry and flat iron our hair day in and day out? How many of us wash our hair every.single.day? How many of us twirl our hair endlessly and mindlessly with little thought to how it affects our hair? These are all bad hair care practices that dramatically increase the opportunities for us to damage our hair. If you’re damaging your hair as fast as it grows, you’ll never see any meaningful amount of retention in length. The number one way to reduce your hair’s potential to break is to adopt a low manipulation hair care regimen.

What is Low Manipulation?

Low manipulation is a hair care practice where handling, styling, and maintenance of the hair is kept to a minimum. How you handle your hair on a daily basis has real effects on how well your hair retains length. Everytime you touch your hair, the wind blows through your tresses, or your hair comes into contact with any object, the hair strand sustains microscopic forms of wear and tear that adds up over time. Your hair doesn’t need much help from you to split and break, so imagine how much faster it sustains damage when you handle it frequently and without much care. Now imagine how much you can slow down damage when you keep manipulation and handling of your hair very low.

If you want your hair to not only be long, but also be long, healthy, and as lustrous as possible, let your hair be and leave it alone as much as you can. Refraining from unnecessary styling, touching, and twirling and simply letting your hair be will give it the opportunity to do what it was designed to do with no interruptions, grow!

Now I believe low manipulation is relative, and what one person considers low manipulation for their hair may be different for another person’s hair. However, I also believe that a low manipulation approach to hair care is vitally important the curlier your hair texture. The tendency for curlier hair textures to be drier, easier to tangle, and more prone to breakage makes regular makes everyday handling of the hair harmful to the hair strand over time. A gentle and patient touch is a must when handling curlier hair textures, and low manipulation is the perfect approach to handling curly and highly textured hair types.

Low Manipulation Shampooing and Conditioning

Now when I suggest only doing what’s needed for your hair, this includes cleansing and conditioning. When it comes to how you care for your hair, you should take a low manipulation approach at every step in your hair care regimen. How can you incorporate low manipulation into your cleansing and conditioning regimen? Well for one, no matter your hair type, it’s usually not a good idea to wash your hair everyday. Simply refraining from washing your hair everyday is one way to take a low manipulation approach to washing your hair. Another example is only shampooing your scalp, the portion of your hair that needs the most cleansing, and never piling your hair on top of your head while shampooing to prevent tangles. Another trick is using dry shampoo or baby powder on your scalp to extend the amount of time you can go without shampooing and manipulating your hair.

If you have curly or highly textured hair, you can really reduce the manipulation and handling of your hair during your cleansing and conditioning sessions by shampooing and conditioning your hair in sections. Instead of washing your curly hair while it’s loose and more susceptible to tangles, braid or twist your hair into two or more sections and cleanse and condition your scalp while your hair while isbraided or twisted to keep handling, friction to your hair strands, and breakage to a minimum.

Low Manipulation Styling

The ways that you can incorporate low manipulation into your hair styling regimen are practically endless. From how you dry your hair to the tools you use on your hair, there is always a low manipulation and less damaging alternative to how you usually style your hair.

Drying/Blow Drying

Personally, I think blow drying is how most women sustain significant damage to their hair. Many of us don’t realize how damaging this common hair practice is to our delicate hair strands. Many of us also don’t realize that there are several alternatives to using a blow dryer to dry our hair and there are ways to make blow drying less damaging. Air drying your hair is one way to make blow drying less damaging. Air drying simply means allowing your hair to dry on it’s own without the use of a blow dryer. Allowing your hair to air dry just 50% before blow drying it will reduce the amount of time you need to use the blow dryer to completely dry your hair and thus reduce the amount of time you need to manipulate your hair.

Another alternative to using a blow dryer is to style your hair while it’s wet and letting it dry on it’s own. You’ll notice a significant difference in the health and condition of your hair if you cut out blow dryers all together. Wet styling enables you to keep manipulation of your hair extremely low because you no longer have to submit your hair to the damaging heat and high manipulation required by blow drying, and wet styles tend to last much longer than hairstyles installed on dry hair.

Styling Tools

As you look for more ways to make your hair care regimen low manipulation, the tools you use to style your hair may also change. I think the best styling tool for a low manipulation hair care regimen is your own hands. Yes, your hands. Our hands can maneuver our hair in ways that even a comb and a brush can’t, and you can feel tangles and knots in your hair with your own hands before a comb or a brush can detect them. Your hands are also the best way to remove tangles and matting because a comb or a brush may actually make tangles worse if you don’t use it properly. Your hands are the safest bet when it comes to styling because your hands will put much less pressure and tension on your delicate hair strands than other styling tools. My only advice is to make sure your nails are smooth and free of rough edges to prevent snags and snarls while handling your hair.

If you decide to incorporate other styling tools, such as a comb, into your hair styling regimen, I suggest going for a seamless, detangling comb to keep manipulation of your hair to a minimum. The more teeth and seams a comb has, the more opportunities it has to break and damage your hair, but a seamless, detangling comb is specially designed to detangle even the thickest and highly textured strands of hair. I suggest that you avoid brushes all together if you want to maintain a low manipulation hair care regimen.

Low Manipulation Hairstyles

Low manipulation hairstyles require minimal handling to install and maintain. If you have to re-style your hair everyday to make it look nice and presentable, then your hairstyle requires too much manipulation. A low manipulation hairstyle should enable you to go at least a couple of days without having to even touch your hair. I like low manipulation hairstyles as well because they’ll also help you from obsessing over your length and how fast your hair is or isn’t growing and allow you to get on with more important things in life.

Protective hairstyles such as buns, braids, and twists are all great low manipulation styles, but you don’t always have to wear protective styles to keep manipulation of your hair to a minimum. There are also hairstyles that are known as “low manipulation hairstyles” in the hair care world that will allow you to wear your hair down, but keep handling of your hair to a minimum. These hairstyles aren’t as protective of the ends of the hair as protective styles, but they’re much less damaging than most other hairstyles that require daily maintenance and upkeep. Ponytails, roller sets, braid outs/twist outs, and heat-free curls are all examples of low manipulation hairstyles that can be worn for a few days without the need to re-style or tidy up your hair. Protective hairstyles may not be appealing to everyone, so low manipulation hairstyles are a great alternative.

So there you have it! Every aspect of your hair care regimen can be overhauled to provide for a low manipulation approach to how you care for your hair. When you start to do less to your hair in terms of handling it everyday, you’ll start to notice a boost in the health and length of your hair. If you want to grow your hair out longer than you ever have before, trust me when I say that less is more.

photo credit: stockimages

The One Time Your Hair Grows The Fastest – Summer Hair Growth Spurt

By Renee Price

Summer Hair Growth Spurt - Why Hair Grows Faster During the Summer!

Did you know that your hair grows faster during the summer?

Hello lovelies,

There’s something about summer that just makes all things blossom. Flowers are in full swing, love seems to blossom, and for some odd reason, my hair always seems to grow faster during the warm weather months. I’ve heard many other women tout that they experience faster hair growth during the summer, but I’d never heard any scientific proof to back up this claim, that is until now.

It turns out human hair does indeed grow faster during the summer, but only by about 10% in comparison to hair growth during the winter months. According to a study led by the National Institute of Health, seasonal changes bring about changes in human hair growth. On the scalp, the hair follicles that are in the anagen phase reach a peak around March, just as the weather is warming up. The number of follicles in the anagen phase tend to decline from there until about September; then the change in growth rate ramps up again completing the cycle. I always say take the extra growth where you can get it, and even though 10% faster growth isn’t much, it is something.
Hair grows faster during the summer....

Why Human Hair Grows Faster During the Summer

So why does our hair grow faster when it’s warm? I’ve heard it’s due to increased humidity in the air, but perhaps its due to increased circulation. When it’s warm, the body doesn’t have to work as hard to keep our internal organs warm (most people experience cold hands and feet in the winter because blood pools around our torso to keep the important organs warm and functioning properly). Blood flow is much more efficient during warm weather months, and blood easily reaches other areas of the body. Increased blood flow means that more blood is reaching the scalp, so increased nutrients to the scalp equals slightly faster hair growth.

Length Retention is Better During the Summer

Perhaps more important than a summer hair growth spurt is the fact that retaining the amount of hair you grow is simply easier when the weather is warm. I don’t know about you, but when it’s warm out, the last thing I’m thinking about is showing off my long locks. When the weather is hot the first thing I do is throw my hair up in a messy ponytail to keep it off of my neck and to prevent a heat stroke, lol. I’m willing to bet most other women do this as well. If we’re wearing our hair up and protecting our ends more frequently in the summer, our hair is experiencing less damage and we’re much more likely to retain more growth. Additionally, with the increased humidity, using heat tools or curling the hair is simply pointless for many of us gals because the curls are bound to fall or turn into a frizzy mess within a matter of hours. So maybe it’s all of these factors combined that causes us to experience faster hair growth during the summer.

Don’t Forget to Protect Your Hair from the Sun

If your first instinct after discovering this fascinating hair growth fact is to set out for summer fun and attempt to kick your summer hair growth spurt in to overdrive, not so fast. It’s still important to protect your hair from the sun during the hot weather months. So many of us focus on protecting our skin from the sun’s harmful rays, but we forget to protect our hair, and many of us don’t even realize that it’s important to do so. Consider wearing a cute summer hat or reach for a protective sunscreen for your hair like this one prior to enjoying your fun in the sun. Remember the sun can also cause significant damage to your hair that could lead to breakage and split ends, so it’s important to expand your sun protection to include your hair.

photo credit:Octavia Dingss

Terminal Length – How Long Can The Average Person’s Hair Grow?

By Renee Price

Hello Lovelies,

For some reason, many of us have this ingrained fear that our hair just can’t grow past a particular length. I know I’ve suffered from this fear myself as I’ve told you my hair story and how my hair was stuck at the same length for years. Well I’m here to tell you that yes, all hair does have a specific point where it will stop growing, and that length is formerly known as terminal length. Even though all hair has a terminal length, more than likely it won’t keep you from reaching your long hair goals because the average terminal length is much longer than most people imagine.

What Exactly Is Terminal Length?

Terminal length is the longest possible length your hair can reach if you just allowed it to grow without it ever breaking or being cut. Terminal length is a real thing. At any given moment, 85 percent of our hair is growing, the other 15 percent is resting preparing to shed or it’s actually shedding and being pushed from the hair’s follicle. Those 15 percent of hairs that are shedding or preparing to shed have simply reached their terminal length. Since they are in the telogen phase, that is the longest those hairs will ever grow.
terminal hair length

Thankfully the strands of our hair reach terminal lengths independently or at different times; otherwise, if all of our hair reached terminal length at the same point, we’d be bald when those hairs eventually shed, until the new hairs grow in.

What Is The Average Terminal Length?

Technically there is no such thing as an average terminal length. If you had asked me 5 years ago, I’d say my terminal length was about shoulder length because that was the longest I could ever grow my hair. Now I know better, and I know that there is no such thing as an average terminal length, because your terminal length depends on time.

Our hair doesn’t stop growing when it reaches a certain length, it stops growing when our growth cycle ends. The average growth phase for humans is between two to six years, and many scientists say it depends heavily on race and hair type. However, no matter your race or hair type, if your growing phase is at minimum 2 years, you can grow at least 12 inches of hair, providing your hair grows at the average monthly growth rate. Twelve inches of hair is no where near short, and for many women of average height, 12 inches of length would fall around the bra strap. The good news is that I know most of us can grow more than 12 inches of length. According to many scientists, most humans can expect to grow between 12 to 36 inches of hair before they reach their terminal length. That’s practically waistlength and beyond, and I’m willing to bet most women can grow their hair even longer, but so many of us fail to do so.

Many women, especially women with curlier, highly-textured hair, simply don’t know their terminal length because they haven’t made the most of their growing phase. Of course things like age and bad health can affect the growth cycle, but for the average woman, it’s bad hair care practices that keep us from realizing our hair’s longest potential. Remember, your hair needs the best growing conditions possible to reach its true terminal length.

Terminal Length and Genetics

The longest possible length your hair can grow isn’t determined by genetics. However, as I stated above, genetics does determine your growing or anagen phase. If you judge your terminal length by the length of hair the women in your family are able to grow, you still may not get an accurate estimate because growth phases still vary significantly even within families. Additionally, chances are if you’ve been damaging your hair, you learned those practices from the women in your family. When it comes to genetics and terminal length, my advice is simple, focus on what your hair can do and learn how to help it thrive.

In conclusion, some people will have a genetic advantage when it comes to the length of their growth phase, but a solid and focused hair care regimen can overcome what a long growth phase will not. While you may be unable to grow your hair to your knees, growing your hair to waist length isn’t some unimaginable feat; you can definitely grow your hair to your waist with proper care and dedication, terminal length be damned!

Please stay encouraged ladies and focus on the things that you can change and manage on your journey to long hair rather than the things you cannot control.